Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Lowers Position in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) by 82.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,126 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,348 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Caterpillar were worth $372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Caterpillar by 43,447.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,730,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,230,239,000 after buying an additional 3,721,693 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Caterpillar by 2,723.1% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,414,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $466,430,000 after buying an additional 1,364,183 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Caterpillar in the 1st quarter worth approximately $391,788,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Caterpillar by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,924,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,060,730,000 after buying an additional 1,196,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Caterpillar by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,483,937,000 after buying an additional 724,477 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Caterpillar news, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.70, for a total value of $902,649.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $3,605,586.40. This trade represents a 20.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CAT shares. Baird R W raised Caterpillar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Caterpillar in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Caterpillar from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $444.00.

Caterpillar Stock Down 2.4%

NYSE CAT opened at $407.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1 year low of $267.30 and a 1 year high of $441.15. The business’s 50-day moving average is $399.63 and its 200 day moving average is $356.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.86 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.40.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.88 by ($0.16). Caterpillar had a return on equity of 48.95% and a net margin of 14.95%. The company had revenue of $16.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from Caterpillar’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.41. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Caterpillar’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.72%.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.